Ooyukiumi no Kaina: When The World is No Longer Friendly
This season there's a lot of anime titles that I'm watching. One of them is Ooyukiumi no Kaina (Kaina of the Great Snow Sea).
The story revolves around Kaina, a boy who lives on top of the giant orbital tree. His companions are elder people who have seen him grow up throughout the years.
Kaina, the main character.
One day, an unexpected encounter with Liliha, a girl from the world down below, changes Kaina's life. Liliha comes from Atland, a small country located at the bottom part of giant orbital tree. Before Kaina saved her, Liliha was hunted down by Valghia's soldiers.
Liliha, the princess of Atland.
She was on a mission to find the Sage who's believed to be able to save her country. Her expectation was met with harsh reality. The legendary Sage doesn't exist. At least nobody at the orbital tree knows who the rumoured Sage is.
Liliha returns to her country, escorted by Kaina. Before they arrive, they were ambushed by Valghia's soldiers led by Amerote. The princess is taken hostage, but the king Atland refuses to surrender to Valghia for the sake of his people. Later, Yaona, Liliha's little brother, sets out on a journey with Kaina to save her.
Yaona, Liliha's little brother and the prince of Atland.
Storywise, Ooyukiumi no Kaina doesn't disappoint. It shows the audience a bleak future where humans have to eke out a harsh life in a not so friendly environment. The earth's surface is covered with great sea snow so people could only live beneath the giant orbital trees. With the orbital trees dying comes another challenging situation: decreasing water supply. This leads to the conflicts between countries.
When their survival is in question, humans show their true colors...
BLAME! and Sidonia no Kishi's creator Nihei Tsutomu never fails to impress. For this new project, Nihei-sensei collaborates with Polygon Pictures who worked with him for the aforementioned titles.
Ando Hiroaki directs the series based on the script written by Murai Sadayuki and Yamada Tetsuya. Yamamoto Kohta and Umase Misaki write the music.
As cited in AnimeNewsNetwork, Moriya Hideki, the executive producer of the series, said that they started planning the project nine years ago, when the first season of Sidonia no Kishi had just finished airing. Since they had various ongoing projects, this yet unnamed project was pushed back.
It was in 2018 that Nihei came to Moriya with the story's outline. They pitched it to Fuji TV that later agreed to sponsor it.
So far the story is promising. Hopefully it doesn't lose its dynamic midway.